In this second wise and passionate book, Tom Andrews explores illness as a major theme, avoiding sentimentality without being merely confessional. He advances his considerable talent with great strength and forcefulness. The poems ae buoyant with humor and mindful of larger mysteries even as they investigate very personal issues. There is an urgency that is compelling; the work is immersed in the private grief of the speaker without excluding the reader. There is real and hard-won wisdom and intelligence in the poems, offering genuine surprises and delight; their attractive humility is not a pose.

I.
The Hemophiliac's Motorcycle

II.
At Burt Lake
Ars Poetica
Praying with George Herbert in Late Winter
A Visit to the Cathedral
Reading Frank O'Hara in the Hospital
Reading the Tao Te Ching in the Hospital
When Comfort Arrives
Evening Song

III.
Hymniing the Kanawha

IV.
The Codeine Diary
Notes